COMPANY NEWS

AGE NO BARRIER TO COMMUNITY SERVICE

Having served long and useful lives around the region, the barriers are no longer compliant with state road and traffic safety specifications so the TM800 Barriers, Rhino Barriers, Boylan Barriers and TLO Barriers will now serve out their twilight years being used for crowd control, track layouts and site enclosures.

Mackay Councillor for Sport, Recreation and Facilities, Paul Steindl, said it was great to see the barriers being repurposed after their years of service on the region’s roads.

“While no longer compliant for use in road works, we thought it would be a great opportunity to offer local clubs the barricades for use at their upcoming events and games,” Cr Steindl said.

“Following Coates Hire’s approach to council with the desire to put the barriers to good use in the community, sports clubs were invited to express their interest and the barriers were distributed free of charge to those clubs that could use them.”

Coates Hire Area Manager – Bowen Basin, Tyson Lane, said he was proud that the branch could use the barriers to support the activities of local community groups.

“We didn’t want to dump the barriers, so we asked council if there was a positive way they could be put to good use in the community,” Tyson said.

“The option to donate them to local clubs for use at their events is one that we both agreed would be a great outcome for the community – and the environment.”

In all, over 20 groups received barriers to use at their games and events, among them the Mackay City Roller Maidens. The women’s flat track roller derby team will use the 15 barriers they received to block public access onto the rink during their training sessions and games.

“The barricades will block the entry-ways to the track so children can’t run out and get hurt,” said Roller Maidens Head Coach Stacey Cornick. “We will also use some of the barricades to cordon off an area of Mackay Leisure Centre’s parking bay so the ambulance has clear access to the facility if injuries occur.”

Like all Coates Hire branches, Mackay branch has a strong connection with its local community and likes to look for opportunities to support good causes whenever it can, as Tyson Lane explained.

“We quite often donate various items of equipment for events; recently we’ve helped out with a local school, the RSPCA Million Paws Walk and the BMA Mackay Marina Run in support of the Leukemia Foundation.

“Unfortunately we can’t meet all of the many requests we receive, but we are always happy to do what we can where we can – it’s just the Coates Hire way.”